Drug Pipeline
Several lead compounds within ENDECE’s platform of estrogen receptor ligands are showing promise as therapeutic options for a number of diseases including cancer, neurological disorders, pain and inflammation.
NDC-1308
NDC-1308 is a small molecule designed to modulate estrogen receptor activity and therefore improve upon both targeted therapeutics with their limited impact and propensity for resistance, and cytotoxics with their low specificity and high side effect profile. NDC-1308 has been shown in vitro to be an ER-α and ER-β agonist. Treatment of human tumor cell lines with NDC-1308 creates a significant hurdle for continued cell growth and proliferation. For example, within 24 hours of NDC-1308 exposure to pancreatic, lung and ovarian tumor cells, over 20 genes that impact chromosome replication are significantly down-regulated by an average of 4 to 8-fold. In addition, genes that specifically trigger DNA damage, cell cycle arrest and cell death are significantly up-regulated on average 2 to 16-fold. NDC-1308 is formulated into a nanoparticle to enhance blood circulation time of the drug along with its accumulation in tumors.
ENDECE proposes that NDC-1308 triggers this novel combination of changes within naturally occurring biological pathways known to inhibit cell proliferation, thus allowing the drug to eventually kill tumor cells independent of the type of mutation(s) that gave rise to the original tumorigenesis.
NDC-1407
NDC-1407 is the first in a new series of ENDECE compounds being synthesized as a next generation oncolytic. Based on ENDECE’s current database, and in combination with computer modeling predictions, NDC-1407 is designed to be a more potent analog of NDC-1308.
NDC-1022
NDC-1022 is a small molecule that modulates estrogen receptor activity by primarily binding and activating ER-β. NDC-1022 is in early development for neurodegenerative diseases, like multiple sclerosis, because it causes a significant up-regulation of gene expression for proteins involved in the process of nerve axon remyelination.
NDC-1352
NDC-1352 is a small molecule that modulates estrogen receptor activity exclusively through ER- β. Since NDC-1352 is a pure ER-β agonist, it is in early discovery for therapeutic indications such as pain and inflammation.
